U.S. Steel and the Japanese firm that had sought to acquire it are suing the Biden administration after the president announced he was blocking a proposed deal for the iconic American manufacturer.
U.S. Steel and Japan’s Nippon Steel said in a release Monday that President Joe Biden “ignored the rule of law” in order to gain favor with United Steelworkers, the union representing many of U.S. Steel’s employees, when he announced Friday he would not allow the acquisition to go through.
Separately, U.S. Steel and Nippon said they were also suing the president of the union, David McCall; as well as the head of an Ohio-based rival mining firm, Cleveland-Cliffs, accusing them of illegally coordinating to undermine the transaction.
Nippon Steel had proposed a $14 billion deal to buy U.S. Steel, but the agreement, which U.S. Steel executives favored, became mired in a national security review by a Treasury Department committee that assesses foreign ownership proposals.
Ultimately, that committee failed to agree on whether Nippon ownership posed a security risk., and asked Biden for a final decision. In announcing his veto of the deal, Biden said shifting the firm out of American hands would undermine critical supply chains and put jobs at risk.
The Treasury committee, as well as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland, are also named in the suit.
“A committee of national security and trade experts determined this acquisition would create risk for American national security,” a Biden administration spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “President Biden will never hesitate to protect the security of this nation, its infrastructure, and the resilience of its supply chains.”
McCall, the steelworkers union boss, said in a statement that he was reviewing the suit.
“By blocking Nippon Steel’s attempt to acquire U.S. Steel, the Biden administration protected vital U.S. interests, safeguarded our national security and helped preserve a domestic steel industry that underpins our country’s critical supply chains,” he said.
A Cleveland-Cliffs representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Following the announcement of the suits Monday, President-elect Donald Trump, who had expressed opposition to the Nippon deal while campaigning last year, posted to social media about the situation.
“Why would they want to sell U.S. Steel now when Tariffs will make it a much more profitable and valuable company,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have U.S. Steel, once the greatest company in the World, lead the charge toward greatness again? It can all happen very quickly!”
Steve Kopack contributed.
